> Do they actually eat the wax, or the cocoons and pollen.  They are much more 
>interested in comb that has had brood in it.

I'd go so far as to say they are only interested in comb that has brood cocoons 
and pollen in it. :)    no shortage of wax moths around here in a mild climate, 
but I can happily store honey comb without it getting infested, as long as 
there's no cocoons or pollen in it.  They certainly aren't targetting the wax 
for eating - it's just an incidental to getting to their real food source. 


Nutritionally it's primarily the cocoons they are after, but I'd suggest in many 
cases there's a fair bit of pollen saturation in the cocoons and vice versa, 
particularly in dead-out hive where the bees haven't been there 
to control temperature.  If that saturation meant they were unable to access the 
nutrition in wax-saturated cocoons,  they wouldn't be nearly so successful at 
cleaning up abandoned hives - to the moths' detriment and the bees'. 


regards
Deanna Corbett

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